Weekend at Pyramid Atlantic Center for Paper, Prints and Books

I’m often asked by people where they can take book arts classes locally in the Washington, D.C., area. Pyramid Atlantic is one of the best venues, and this weekend I had seven engaged students in my paper engineering class there. Not all the students were local: two students traveled from North Carolina to take the class. Participants spent Saturday and Sunday learning a range of pop-up forms and producing some inventive structures of their own. I thoroughly enjoyed the group and the exchange of ideas.

Corcoran College Book Arts Graduates

 
This year marks the third graduating class out of the Master of Book Arts program at the Corcoran College of Art + Design in Washington, D.C. On Wednesday I drove downtown with friend and artist Raya Bodnarchuk to view the graduates’ thesis exhibition and to hear their defense presentations. It’s the largest graduation class yet with nine students participating, which made for an exciting and varied show.

Accordion books, wall-mounted pieces and sculptural installations were included. After everyone had a chance to view the exhibit, we proceeded to the auditorium for presentations on each student’s body of work. Themes ranged from Maria Riutort’s Memory and Landscape about the human rights violations in her native Chile, to Marjorie Devereux’s very personal Visual Autobiography and Elizabeth Curren’s Artist’s Books and Children’s Books.
     The exhibition will be up through May 19th in the Corcoran’s Rotunda Gallery, so if you have an interest in the book arts it’s a show that’s definitely worth seeing.

DC Cherry Blossoms Pop Out

This past weekend was the National Cherry Blossom Festival here in Washington, D.C., and for once the blossoms cooperated by blooming in conjunction with the festival. Because we’ve had an unusually cold spring followed by a few very hot days, the trees were especially full this season.
Rather than brave the large crowds on The Mall, I opted to go to the nearby neighborhood of Kenwood, known for its spectacular display of trees. Walking through Kenwood is truly magical, especially once the blossoms start losing their petals–it’s like walking through a shower of pink snow. Crowds of amateur and professional photographers document the event, while neighborhood kids sell cookies and lemonade from stands in their front yards.
If you didn’t make it to see the trees this year, you can still commemorate Japan’s gift to our nation’s capitol by constructing your own cherry blossom pop-up card. Visit http://www.cherryblossompopup.com/

Back in Philadlphia for a Pop-Up Weekend

I was in Philadelphia this past weekend to teach another paper engineering workshop for The University of the Arts Book Arts graduate students there. It’s always fun to work with a group of book artists, and this group was no exception. Participants jumped right in and started adding their own spin to the basic pop-up structures I covered. All seven students left with a stack of models to serve as inspiration for future dimensional additions to their own projects.

I also took the occasion to visit with two good U. Arts friends, Mary Phelan and Susan Viguers. Good luck to Susan on her upcoming retirement!

Young Women Leaders Program, Charlottesville, VA

I had the pleasure on Wednesday of working with nine middle school girls and their “big sister” mentors who are part of the Young Women Leaders Program sponsored by the University of Virginia’s Women’s Center and Curry School of Education. The big sisters are undergraduate students at U. VA. and receive a semester of training when they begin mentoring. All of the little- and big-sister teams learned to make several pop-up structures with the objective of eventually designing cards that can be produced in multiples using Silhouette Cameo digital die cutters. In the process, students will learn about new technologies and production techniques, marketing skills and entrepreneurship. I was delighted by their response, and look forward to following the project’s progression.

Book, Paper, Scissors Fair, Philadelphia

Book, Paper, Scissors, the annual artists’ book and print fair sponsored by the Philadelphia Center for the Book, was held at the Parkway Branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia this past weekend. I was one of twenty artists who showed and sold their work. It was so much fun to see many of my friends and former students during the day’s event. I especially enjoyed sitting next to Tara O’Brien, and I bought one of her delightful little travel books featuring loose pages bound by into a tyvek cover with colored hair elastics. (See her Etsy page). Fellow paper engineer and Philadelphia resident Collette Fu also dropped by.

Beyond the book fair events, my friend Patty Smith and her daughters Sarah and Erin enjoyed several outings over the weekend. Patty and Claire Fouquet’s piece Crowds and Barriers was showcased at The University of the Art’s Merriam Theater, featuring performances by dancers and the bucket ensemble Rumble. We also went to the Italian Market for a Sunday breakfast and shopping. Patty, Erin, and I are pictured here with their purchase of a beautiful little Christmas tree.

Carol’s Interview with Diane Gilleland

Diane Gilleland of Portland, Oregon, also known as Sister Diane, recently conducted a Google Hangout interview with me for her Crafty Pod site. Diane has conducted hundreds of interviews with artists and craftspersons since beginning her podcasts in 2005. The half-hour segments explore how and where various craftspersons work, how they make their artworks, and where their creative ideas come from. To hear my interview, click here.

To see more of Sister Diane’s interviews, visit her Craftypod web site.